Atech CRS Grand Prix today announced that American racer Ethan Ringel will contest the 2012 GP3 Series. The 17 year-old from Florida, successfully completed two days at the Circuit de Catalunya recently, his first time ever in GP3 following a maiden season in car racing.The former kart racer, originally from New York, started his career in 2009 in the Rotax Grand Nationals gaining second place and in 2010 took part in the Rotax Pan-Am Championship. Ringel only moved into car racing this year, contesting the Formula 2000 and Formula Enterprise 4 series, collecting four wins and establishing a track record at Miller Motorsports Park.Coached by British IZOD Indycar racer Jay Howard, Ringel has nevertheless turned away from the American scene to focus on a motor racing career in Europe.

At the signing, Ringel said: “Unike most American drivers, It was never my dream to do Indycar, I’ve always wanted to do Formula One and competing in GP3 is the most logical step to start that climb. Jay (Howard) was actually the one who pushed for me to come over to the UK and start in GP3 and Atech CRS GP was without doubt the best choice.“They have a great car, the team is very professional and all the engineers and mechanics are really good to work with. However, I have no expectations going into the first rounds, as I know I will be very inexperienced compared to the others.

“My main priority for now is to learn the car, learn the tracks and learn the best way to work with the team, so we can start the season in the best possible shape.”Atech CRS Team Principal David Hayle was also delighted to announce his first signing for 2012: “It is good to have signed our first GP3 driver so early on. We understand it will be a tough learning year for Ethan, he has limited experience in racing cars but he has been putting in lots of work back home with some great results.“However at just 17 he has plenty of time to get to grips with this car, we’ve got an extensive testing programme for him and he’s really keen to learn. Our primary concern will be getting him as much track time as possible, he’s going to be driving the Formula Renault as often as he can, learning as many tracks as he can. He is very determined, he had a good start to his racing career in karts, and is keen and committed to doing a good job.”Atech CRS GP hopes to announce it’s full line-up before Christmas